European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker

BRUSSELS, November 5. /TASS/. The European Union’s sanctions regime against Russia is not expected to change in the near future, the new European Commission president said on Wednesday.

Jean-Claude Juncker said toughening or easing the sanctions is not an issue for today.

Juncker also said he would make his first visit to Kiev.

EU foreign ministers to consider situation with sanctions

The foreign ministers of the European Union’s 28 member states will consider the situation around the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions for Moscow’s position on Ukrainian events at a meeting on November 17, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday.

The West led by the United States subjected Russia to sanctions, including visa bans, asset freezes and sectoral restrictions, following Crimea’s incorporation by Russia in March following a coup in Ukraine in February and the start of clashes in Ukraine’s southeast that the West claimed Moscow was involved in despite Russia’s repeated denials.

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Merkel sees no reason to cancel sanctions

German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that latest events in Ukraine, primarily elections in self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, do not allow for consodering possible cancellation of sanctions imposed on Russia.

“There are no reasons to cancel them now,” she said in Berlin on Tuesday. Merkel named elections in the self-proclaimed republics “illegal,” noting that Moscow should influence militias more actively to prevent the conflict from escalation.

“Russia does not take effort at an extent we would like them to do so,” she said, noting importance of observing the Minsk agreements by all conflicting parties.